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Great explanation! Now tell me who, outside of some PPV movies, broadcast in 1080p?

720p, 1080i, and 1080p are all real HD. HD-Lite is a specific term used to describe Dish Network's downsampling of all 1080i channels and reducing their picture quality. What you are thinking of is the marketing term "full HD" and that refers to 1080p.

I have read that FIOS utilizes the least amount of compression. I don't know if that's true. When it comes to compression of signals does anyone really know who does what? Are signals compressed equally on a night to night basis or a channel to channel basis? How about a show to show basis on the same channel? Also, at what distance from a 50" screen can the human eye tell the difference between 1080i at Full HD and HD Lite?

720p, 1080i, and 1080p are all real HD. HD-Lite is a specific term used to describe Dish Network's downsampling of all 1080i channels and reducing their picture quality. What you are thinking of is the marketing term "full HD" and that refers to 1080p.

How about a show to show basis on the same channel? Also, at what distance from a 50" screen can the human eye tell the difference between 1080i at Full HD and HD Lite?

I watched Frozen Planet on Discovery during my transition from DirecTV to Dish. I did not have both services simultaneously, so I could not do a true A/B comparison, but I think the comparison I made was valid. I used a 50" 1080p plasma television. Detail was visibly less on Dish, viewed at 8'. I also had to significantly boost color in my television settings to get a proper picture from the Hopper. Boosting leads to an increase in artifacts, in my experience, but sports like football appear totally washed out with settings that look correct for both Blu-Ray and DirecTV. In other words, color depth (which is an easy way to overcompress a signal) is very lacking on Dish. Another channel I frequently watch is the Tennis Channel, and again, my opinion was that Dish lacked that sharp-as-a-tack picture I had seen on DirecTV.

I don't think color depth would be viewing distance dependent. And a wall prevented me from viewing further away than 8' but I could see that the picture detail was less on Dish. Others have asserted the opposite - that Dish's picture is more detailed, but I haven't seen it. Some have argued that I was sitting too close to the television, but I was actually at the outside edge of THX's recommended viewing distance.

So my programming wish for Dish is not more channels (I have plenty, thank you) but a higher quality on existing channels. This obviously means dedicating more bandwidth, and since they are unlikely to be tossing bandwidth they have, would mean they must eliminate duplicate SD channels to create the space. I'd also Ike to see a tuner for the Hopper, as local channels are terrible.

How do you get ESPN with an OTA antenna?? I was talking about watching the local HD networks via OTA antenna -you get ESPN OTA?

Because I record so much content on a weekly basis I find myself recording at least 20 hours using OTA. Being the nosy person I am I can't help but compare OTA vs "E" PQ. Comparing nightly broadcasts like NCIS, Bones, Vampire Diaries, Blue Bloods, Castle, as well as NFL games on ESPN, CBS, and FOX, baseball games on FSNAZ and PAC-12 Channel, boxing on HBO and ESPN 2, I see no noticeable differences between OTA and "E". I really expected to and actually was hoping I would. I've asked my wife many times for her opinion and she agrees with me. Sony 60A3000.

I see no noticeable differences between OTA and "E". I really expected to and actually was hoping I would.

Many people cannot see the differences. I wish I was one of them. And it no doubt varies by market - if the local spot beams are full, then they have to compress more than an area where the local spot beams have plenty of bandwidth.

The two things to look for are 1) color depth - how rich and vibrant are the colors? An overcompressed picture will look dull. And 2) pixelization - parts of the screen going to blocks. The blockiness is temporary, and almost always on visually busy screens, so it can be hard to detect.

I recorded the finale of American Idol last year, and as the confetti flew, the screen was a horrible mess of large pixels on Dish, but OTA was nearly perfect. Quite often on close-ups of performers, their faces had obvious lack of color depth - there were distinct visible lines from one color to the next making it almost look cartoonish. Honestly, it was quite hard for me to watch. I've seen less evidence of trouble in NFL broadcasts, so maybe things have improved.

Many people cannot see the differences. I wish I was one of them. And it no doubt varies by market - if the local spot beams are full, then they have to compress more than an area where the local spot beams have plenty of bandwidth.

The two things to look for are 1) color depth - how rich and vibrant are the colors? An overcompressed picture will look dull. And 2) pixelization - parts of the screen going to blocks. The blockiness is temporary, and almost always on visually busy screens, so it can be hard to detect.

I recorded the finale of American Idol last year, and as the confetti flew, the screen was a horrible mess of large pixels on Dish, but OTA was nearly perfect. Quite often on close-ups of performers, their faces had obvious lack of color depth - there were distinct visible lines from one color to the next making it almost look cartoonish. Honestly, it was quite hard for me to watch. I've seen less evidence of trouble in NFL broadcasts, so maybe things have improved.

I too have gone back and forth, closely looking at the same program, when possible same scene, looking at fine details like hair on arms, facial details, looking for artifacts. I look standing at the 55" LG screen, and at viewing distance,for me about 10 feet. I may see the most extreme slightest of difference as far that criteria goes, meaning no clarity or pixelization differences worth mentioning.

There is a slight, but a little more difference in the color saturation. Enough to set the OTA input with just a little less color saturation. Now that may mean there is a little less detail also, but I just can not see it.We too have the last episode of American Idol on an EHD, so I looked at it. On the EA anyway, it has none of the problems noted. I can't compare it to OTA since I did not record it from there.

I can honestly say from normal viewing distance especially there is virtually no difference, or certainly not enough to be noticed. Different inputs have separate settings specifically for the things like different color saturation from different sources, so in the end, the color saturation is the same for both. I don't doubt however it can be different on both sides for some people, satellite with maybe fuller HD spotbeams, or OTA with more or less sub channels. Screen size and quality of the TV also play a role. But I would say it is fair to say generally the Dish signal is at the least very close to OTA . If OTA is at this time the gold broadcasting standard, Dish is just about there. It's the end result, what you see that counts more than the technical numbers. Contrast all that to Charter, many of my friends in Ct. where I am have, and you can most definitely see the difference. It's not subjective.

MLB always looks great during a game. So did the world series on the local fox channel.

I believe it is all source stuff.

I noticed yesterday after Sons of anarchy was over on FX,[ picture was just fine] they ran "rescue me" [ I think that's what is was] and the picture was obviously compressed. I had to flip channels to see if there was a problem, but nope, the guide bar read HD, even though it wasn't.

Wish Dish would add all the Encore channels to HD. It's not much of a bonus of subbing to 250 if the picture is crappy.